Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government has found a new way to destroy jobs in high unemployment areas of British Columbia.

In December 11 foreign workers under HRDC permits issued in Delhi and rubber stamped in Vancouver began to dismantle part of the pulp mill in Gold River. Bids by Canadian companies using Canadian workers were earlier rejected and told their price was too high.

Why is the government hiring foreign workers to undercut Canadian jobs?

Under our system any employers that cannot fill a job with local employees and workers must submit an application for job validation to HRSD before they can submit for a minister's permit in order to bring these workers over. That situation is always temporary.

In other words, the moment that a Canadian worker can fulfill that position, then that job lapses.

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I believe that you would find unanimous consent, based on discussions among the House leaders, to put the following motion which is supported by all parties. I move:

That this House condemn in the strongest possible terms the recent anti-Semitic attacks in Toronto on Jewish houses, synagogues and schools, and support the call in the 2002 OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Declaration on anti-Semitic violence for strengthening mechanisms to combat the scourge of anti-Semitism in Canada and globally.

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I agreed to that motion because I agree very strongly with the sentiments it expressed.

However, I draw to the attention of the House and to the House leader of the New Democratic Party that it is not adequate to consult with House leaders of recognized parties to secure unanimous consent in the House of Commons. If there are to be consultations, I, and other members who are not affiliated with parties recognized in the House, expect to be consulted in the future.

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present the 12th report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs regarding the membership of the Standing Committee on Justice, Human Rights, Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness.

If the House gives its consent, I will be seeking concurrence in the 12th report later this day.

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present the first report of the Standing Joint Committee on the Library of Parliament. Pursuant to Standing Order 118(1) the report establishes the quorum of the committee.

If the House gives its consent, I will be seeking concurrence in the report later this day.

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-495, an act to amend the Canada Pension Plan (arrears of benefits).

Mr. Speaker, if this bill were adopted, as I hope it will, then a person who applies for a pension under the Canada pension plan after reaching the age of 70 years would, in most cases, be able to receive retroactive payments starting from their 70th birthday, rather than the current maximum of 12 months.

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-496, an act to designate the month of September as National Ovarian Cancer Month.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today on behalf of thousands of Canadian women who have or will find out they have ovarian cancer. The bill would designate September as national ovarian cancer month, similar to those in other countries.

Each year 2,600 women are diagnosed with cancer and one in seventy will get this cancer in their lifetime. The good news is that when detected early, and treated, the survival rate is as high as 90%.

We need to fund research, testing and awareness of this dreadful disease. I sincerely hope my colleagues will support this initiative.

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-497, an act to amend the Holidays Act and to make consequential amendments to other acts.

Mr. Speaker, the rationale behind the bill is that as a nation we go some 14 weeks between January 1 and Easter with no national holiday. During that time period there are a number of important events that we could single out to honour and also to have a long weekend to recharge our batteries as a people during the toughest time of winter.

After consulting with a number of people across the country, because the bill has had considerable interest, two particular days emerged as probable days, or leading contenders one might say, the first one being St. Patrick's Day, March 17.

The second possible and worthy day would be flag day. On February 15, 1965, Lester B. Pearson, The Liberal Prime Minister of Canada, through his courageous efforts, saw us have our new flag.

The bill calls on the government to establish a national holiday, a long weekend, and then to conduct appropriate consultations with Canadians in order to have such holiday in place for next winter.

moved, seconded by the member for Sackville—Musquodoboit Valley—Eastern Shore, for leave to introduce Bill C-498, an act to amend the Workers Mourning Day Act.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to introduce a bill entitled an act to amend the Workers Mourning Day Act which will, every April 28, require that the Canadian flag be lowered to half-mast in honour of those who have lost their lives on the job.

I want to express my gratitude to the member for Sackville—Musquodoboit Valley—Eastern Shore for seconding the motion and the member for St. John's East and the member for Laurentides for agreeing to co-sponsor the bill.

The bill would give better recognition to those who lost their lives on the job and would bring more focus to such tragedies. Whether it be on a job site, at a workplace, on a farm or on a fishing boat, these men and women, whose lives have been cut short, deserve such a tribute from the nation they so served.

Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to present a petition from college and university students who belong to the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations. This particular batch contains tens of thousands among many other tens of thousands of signatures from all across the country. They represent Quebec, Ontario and Alberta.

These students point out that there has been huge increases in tuition and student debt. They point out that a third of the students who drop out of school drop out for financial reasons.

They call upon Parliament to enact legislation to create a new system of grants aimed at reducing financial barriers for individuals from low income homes, to expand the existing Canada student loan grant in order to lower the debt burden of full time students with financial need, and to negotiate with the provinces a dedicated transfer payment for post-secondary education.

The hon. member for Peterborough and chairman of the procedure and House affairs committee, the senior committee on procedure in the House, knows and would not want to set a bad example for hon. members in suggesting that he supports or opposes any petition in the House. I am sure he knows better and would not want to repeat that performance.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition with over 200 signatures of my constituents of Okanagan—Shuswap who wish to draw to the attention of the House that marriage is the best foundation for families in the raising of children.

They also want to remind the House that it passed a motion in June 1999 that called for marriage to continue to be defined as the union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others.

Therefore my constituents call upon Parliament to pass legislation to recognize the institution of marriage in federal law as being the lifelong union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others.

The first petition evolves from the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations where they highlight the financial challenges that students from coast to coast to coast have with respect to seeking higher learning. They call on the Government of Canada to ensure that there is improved core funding, recognizing that there still needs to be an envelope of student aid and a debt remediation aspect as well to improve access to post-secondary education.

They highlight that students from high income families are 2.5 times more likely to attend university or college than those from low income families. That is why we saw similar initiatives in yesterday's budget. It is my pleasure to present that petition on behalf of catholic schools, including my province, from UNB, UNBSJ and St. Thomas.

My second petition comes from Osgoode Hall Law School. It is my honour to rise in the House today to present a petition, duly certified by the clerk, on behalf of the students of Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto, Ontario.

The petitioners are calling upon Parliament to take immediate steps to lower tuition rates in Canada, to address the burden of existing high levels of student debt, to commit to ensuring access to affordable legal education as a necessary condition of a fair and equitable legal system in Canada, and to ensure that tuition rates at law schools, including Osgoode Hall, are frozen at existing levels and ultimately reduced.

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present to the House a petition signed by hundreds of students from Nova Scotia. This petition, which is similar to the ones presented by the hon. members for Peterborough and Fundy—Royal, seeks to lower the debt burden of post-secondary students.

The petitioners are urging the federal and provincial governments to work together to establish programs that will help ensure that Canadian students from all backgrounds have access to our excellent post-secondary institutions.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to table 10 petitions from hundreds of Canadians on the matter of ensuring we have warning labels on alcohol beverage containers indicating that drinking alcohol during pregnancy can cause birth defects.

The petitioners acknowledge the fact that this Parliament has already passed a bill to ensure that this happens and they call upon the government to enact those provisions as soon as possible.